A long-awaited meteor and a Greek philosopher meet in Halifax Harbour this week

The last significant meteor showers to grace the Atlantic Canadian skies came at the end of 2022 with the Geminids, which peak annually in mid-December. The next sighting should be far easier to spot, if less spectacular: The 55,534-tonne NYK Meteor container ship arrived in Halifax from Caucedo, Dominican Republic at the start of the week. It’s a much-delayed arrival; the Meteor was meant to reach port in Halifax on Feb. 18 before hitting setbacks on its route. Ditto for the ZIM Yokohama container ship, which arrived Monday from Valencia, Spain after it was initially scheduled to reach Halifax on Feb. 22.

It’s not just a Monday thing, either. Let’s call it the week of delayed arrivals—which, let’s be honest, sounds about right for the end of February. Nobody’s in the mood to hurry anywhere, unless that “anywhere” involves sunshine and tiny drink umbrellas. Nonetheless, this week’s Halifax Harbour traffic report brings a bounty of new cars, exotic port calls and a dash of scandal.

Monday

The coolest ship in port Monday? That could well be the utility vessel Tidal Pioneer, which has been hanging around the Halifax Harbour for the past two weeks. It arrived in Dartmouth after a stay at the Westport Ferry Wharf. Per the ship’s manufacturer, Neptune Marine, the Pioneer was built for working on tidal energy projects in Nova Scotia. One of its most recent projects? The first floating in-stream tidal power feeding Nova Scotia’s electrical grid. More of that and less coal-fired power, please.

In May 2022, Scottish energy company Sustainable Marine announced its first successful harnessing of tidal power in the Bay of Fundy. Credit: Sustainable Marine

Tuesday

The Tropic Lissette, Vistula Maersk and Puka container ships are all scheduled to dock in Halifax on Tuesday. (If you’re eager and eagle-eyed, the Lissette arrived at the South End Container Terminal this morning.) The latter two are en route from Montreal and Cuba’s port of Moa, respectively. All three of them have endured delays. Per the Port of Halifax’s Vessel Forecast Summary, which logs inbound ships up to a month in advance, the 159-metre Lissette was initially scheduled to arrive from the US Virgin Islands’ St. Croix on Feb. 20. (No blame cast here: If I’m in St. Croix, I’m taking one look at Halifax’s forecast and going back to the beach.) The Maersk was meant to arrive on Feb. 25. And the Puka? Its arrival has been delayed since Feb. 10.

Wednesday

The harbour hold-ups continue into midweek. The MSC Nuria container ship should be making its delayed Halifax arrival on Wednesday, joined by the ro-ro/container carrier Oceanex Sanderling and the Atlantic Sea ro-ro/container ship. The Sanderling is coming back for its weekly stop in Halifax from St. John’s and was meant to arrive on Tuesday. The 274-metre Nuria (en route from Montreal) has been delayed since Sunday, and will eventually carry on to Barcelona and Livorno, Italy. The Atlantic Sea is inbound from Liverpool, and was meant to arrive on Monday. After its Nova Scotia pit stop, it heads onward to New York City.

Thursday

It’s a mostly quiet day at the harbour on Mar. 2. The big scheduled arrival? The Morning Courier vehicle carrier comes into port, en route from Zeebrugge, Belgium. The courier is part of vehicle shipping specialist EUKOR’s fleet, which is partly owned by both Hyundai and Kia—and majority-owned by shipping giant Wallenius Wilhelmsen. Back in 2015, EUKOR made headlines after China fined it and six other global shipping companies a combined $65 million for alleged price-fixing. EUKOR received the bulk of the fine: A $45-million wrist slap. Wallenius Wilhelmsen was fined about $7.1 million.

Friday

Things pick up, as usual, toward the end of the week: On Friday, the container ships Lagarfoss and ZIM Monaco are slated to arrive, along with the ro-ro carriers Nolhan Ava and Atlantic Sky. The 10,119-tonne Lagarfoss plies its route between Reykjavik; Argentia, Newfoundland; Halifax and Portland, Maine, while the Monaco is inbound from Valencia, Spain. Meanwhile, the Nolhan Ava ferries its cargo between Argentia, St. Pierre & Miquelon and Halifax, and the Atlantic Sky will make the cross-Atlantic trip from Halifax to Liverpool.

Saturday

By far the biggest ship coming into port this week? That’d be the CMA CGM Lyra, which spans 363 metres and weighs in at 131,332 tonnes. (That’s almost 13 Lagarfosses, for those counting.) It’s not quite as hefty as the CMA CGM T.Jefferson that Halifax saw last week, or as lengthy as the CMA CGM Von Humboldt that came in early February, but it comes close. That counts for something, right? The Lyra makes its scheduled arrival on Mar. 4, inbound from Tanger Med, Morocco.

Wondering just how enormous the 363-metre CMA CGM Lyra is? Here’s how it compares in scale to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, seen in 2011. Credit: arbitragery / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Also coming Saturday: The Hyundai Courage container ship comes into port from Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Sunday

At last, our famed Greek philosopher arrives in Halifax on Sunday. The Siem Aristotle vehicle carrier is en route from Emden, Germany—except instead of monologues on metaphysics, deductive reasoning and the self, it comes packed with about 7,500 cars. (“No great drive on the 102 has ever existed without a touch of madness,” or something like that.)

Our Greek companion is joined by two friends: The MSC Melissa and the Tropic Hope container ships are both slated to dock this weekend. The Melissa is currently en route from Savannah, Georgia to Norfolk, Virginia. The Tropic hope is scheduled to arrive in Halifax after stops in San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; and Philipsburg, Sint Maarten.